ToTT: Chapter 13
Chapter 13: Aftermath July 20th X792 -- 03:34am Ezra was resting in the guild's medical bay. Also present were Sif, Eugene, Hayden and the children, most of them anyway. Sif winced as she had some of her wounds treated by Yukino, who scolded the other woman every time she moved, much to the amusement of the Werewolf and Dragon Slayer nearby. Elsewhere, Michelle was sitting on the roof of the guildhall, her clothing still tattered. She had found a crow's nest-like structure to sit upon; her long, loose blonde hair flowing in the wind. She stared across the city blanketed in night-time darkness, lit by street lights and the odd bedroom light of multiple houses. "Come on Sif, buck up a little. That pain's nothing compared to what we just went through." Eugene said in response to the woman squirming around as Yukino tried to treat her wounds. All the while, he kept an eye on the reports Ren was sending him. "Just try to relax, you're making it harder by being so tense." Eugene was promptly met by an empty food tray launched at his face from his companion. Ren was outside doing some pondering about the situation. As one of the few people who didn't do any actual combat, he felt that he should do his best to at least be their brain. He had already sent Aria to keep watch over the area as she wasn't hurt at all either, letting the others rest. With all the fuss that they cause there was bound to be people wanting to question them. Aria kept at the ready a spear, the weapon she favored contrary to her best friends Brooke and Brianna who preferred the sword. It was then Ren noticed Michelle who was on the roof. Using a replicard and some Fortification Magic, he managed to run up the building and onto the roof. "Why aren't you down there with the others? At the very least, you'll catch cold with the way your clothes are. You're injured so go sleep you idiot." Michelle's only response was a glance, and a sigh through her nose. "I'm fine...I'm an Elemental Mage.", she mumbled. She grabbed her hair, and swept it round so that it hung over one shoulder, and continued watching the city in silence. Meanwhile, from the shadows, undetected even by Ren, another figure was observing the conversation between Michelle and the scientist. "Well, that's not going to matter too much if you're low on magic energy." Ren said with a sigh before taking out a small container. Even though it's been a while since they had won the fight, many of the people were exhausted, both mentally and physically. In the case of those using up all of their magic to stop the projectiles, they had used up whatever stores they had and were almost running on empty. He took Michelle's hand and put a candy in it. "This will help restore your energy once it's been absorbed into the body. Eat it." Ren said with a serious tone before plopping down next to her. Whatever seriousness he had earlier was gone for now. "Man, you Flame Body people are lucky that you can just heat yourself up if you have enough power. I have to do it manually..." He said as he summoned a fireball. "Or maybe I'm just weak..." He said with a sigh. "So? What are you going to be doing from now on? All of your guildmates skedaddled on you." "Thank you...", she said softly, as she ate the small object. "Well, not all of them left...Artemis came with us, so it's not all bad, I guess.", the woman said with a small voice. "Sting offered both of us memberships in Sabertooth as well. He had a big goofy smile on his face even after he was told about what I used to be a part of. He trusts too easily.", Michelle continued. She was twiddling a small knitting needle between her fingers slowly; it was her lance, shrunken by her Command T Magic. "Yeah, there are a lot of easily trusting idiots out there, I guess I'd be one of them." Ren said in response with his own goofy smile. "Ahh, looks like Sting beat me to it. I was going to invite you to guild I'm in myself. I thought it'd be fun having you around." He said as opened up a soda and drank from it. "Want one?" He held up another soda can. Nearby, Alex who was watching the two from a decent distance all of a sudden had the blade of a lance/spear in his head. However, it didn't harm him. "Eavesdropping on conversations is rude you know?" Aria said Alex as she pulled the blade out of his head. The reason no damage was done was because she used Percentage magic, increasing the chance that the spear could pass through his head. "So what have they been talking about?" She said squatting next to him. Alex clearly had not went to get new clothes; his shoes were gone, as was his sweatshirt and t-shirt, and his shorts were almost torn apart, leaving him looking as if he were at the beach; shirtless and in shorts. "I was about to talk to her, and then your dad popped up.", he said in response to the girl beside him. "They're just talking about what she plans to do.", he said to Aria softly. "I see." Aria replied simply although she had an expression curiosity on her face towards the scene they were watching. She then remembered why she came here. "By the way, Brianna told me to bring you some new clothes and shoes." As she said this, she pulled out said items and handed them over. "So why do you need to talk to her?" Aria then had a teasing smile on her face. "Did you fall for the woman that stole a kiss from you? Brianna isn't going to be happy about this." She said with a snicker before going back to normal. "So why are you just sitting here? If you need to talk to her, just get her attention." She said as they continued to watch the two of them talking and drinking soda. "I could push you off this roof just by thinking about it.", he said in a playfully-defensive manner, glaring at the girl, as he took the clothes. "Thanks. And I'm just gonna let them finish their conversation.", he said afterwards as he glanced at the two. Elsewhere, down inside the guild, Hayden was already bickering with his younger sister, the two almost barking at each other. Sif was sat at a small, round table with Eugene, enjoying herself a cup of tea, smiling at the handsome Dragon Slayer at the table with her. Ezra was asleep in the medical bay, being tended to by a small number of medical experts, but the man's Healing Magic, at such a mastered level, was slowly, passively healing his wounds, even as he slept. "I wonder how long that's going to take..." Aria commented as it seemed the two wouldn't be done anytime soon. "Want to just go back inside and wait?" She suggested. Inside the guild, Eugene was pondering about how this might go based on the data he had received. It was then he noticed that Sif was smiling at him, for whatever reason he wasn't exactly sure. "You seem happy, what's up?" He said with a smile. Sif giggled. "When you think a lot, your nose crinkles and your eyebrow twitches. It's adorable.", she said with a laugh. Up on the roof, Alex sighed. He stood up, making sure he kept a hold on his new clothes from Aria. He pounced down to a ledge, and then onto a nearby balcony. He proceeded to look up at Aria and say, "I know you have the urge to do it, but try not to perv on me as I change.", he said with his usual smug smile and a teasing wink as he went inside to put the new clothes on. Eugene felt embarrassed when Sif said that it was adorable. "I-Is this really the time for it? We just got through one hell of a battle." He said in response. "I'm surprised you can be completely relaxed now. I guess I should do the same." "Don't get so full of yourself you narcissistic perv!" Aria exclaimed after Alex, also in a teasing tone. Afterwards, she gave one more glance towards her father and Michelle before jumping off the building in the opposite direction. Down in the main area, Sif was even more amused by Eugene's awkwardness at her response. She had another sip of her tea, enjoying the taste. She paused, and looked at Eugene in silence for a few moments. And then she turned away, sniggering mischievously with her hand hovering in front of her mouth, testing for a reaction. After five or ten minutes, Alex had changed into the new outfit he had been given. He investigated how it looked on him with a full-length mirror. He fidgeted with the zip of his new black hoodie for a moment. The outfit consisted of the hoodie, a white shirt with red beneath, white trousers, red Converse, and a pair of headphones. Alex seemed to approve. After, he went downstairs to the main part of the building. He was greeted by Bree and Akabane, and started having a conversation with the two. What the heck does she have in mind now? Eugene thought to himself in worry as he saw Sif giggle mischievously while looking at him. "I really hope what you have in mind isn't anything bad..." He actually wondered whether this was to just mess with him or that she actually had something in mind. "You're safe.", Sif said with a chirp. "For now.", she said after, sniping the two words in with a chuckle. "Ah, I see Aria finally found you Alex." Akabane said when Alex approached. He had been present when Brianna asked Aria to hand him the clothes. "What were you doing outside anyway? It didn't appear that you just needed fresh air." "I was looking for Michelle, to see how she was doing.", Alex said in response to Akabane's question. "So...you were up there in the dark...in only a pair of shorts that were basically gone...and her clothes were ripped apart as well?", Brianna said, with a slightly twitching eyebrow. "Bree?", Akabane said with a puzzled expression on his face, despite knowing fine-well why Brianna was acting like this. "Yeah, but why do our clothes matter? I just wanted to talk to her, but Aria's dad beat me to it.", he said casually to the white-haired Swordswoman. He raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "It's just--", Brianna went to talk but was interrupted by Brooke, who just joined the conversation. "It's just that Bree here thinks you two were doing the dirty!", Brooke said teasingly, with an expression of absolute joy watching Brianna react wildly. Alex's face went bright red! "Woah, woah, woah! Even if I did want to--", Alex went to speak, but he too was interrupted...by Michelle of all people! She looped her arms delicately over his shoulders, half-cuddling the boy. "Awh, no need to be shy about it, Alex~!", she said in a tender voice, to purposely agitate Brianna. "It may have been cold-out, but it was definitely starting to get a little hot too until an interruption~!", she said again, but looking directly at Brianna, who was now bright red with a twitching eyebrow. Alex tried to speak again, but laughter from Michelle and Brooke interrupted him once again. They clearly met up and organised this little "chat". "Hahaha, you're getting popular with even the girls from the past. Good for you." Akabane said with a small smile, joining in on the teasing although he kept his usual composure. Ren who had come in after Michelle had was also snickering at how the situation turned out. "At this rate, you'll turn into a harem series protagonist and have a bunch of girls going after you. Hahaha." Ren said as a joke mainly to get the image of Alex getting a harem of girls into Brianna's mind to sort of piss her off further. Brianna growled throatily and punched Akabane, Brooke, Michelle and even Alex and Ren on their heads in a burst of speed and strength, walking off in a huff afterwards, leaving the group to lick their wounds. "Ow...why me too..?", Alex whined as he rubbed where Brianna punched. "Young man, I wish you good luck. You're going to need it." Ren said as he patted Alex on the shoulder. "How about going after her then and resolving everything before it turns into a big mess?" He said motioning for him to calm her down. Still rubbing the bump Brianna left, he pranced down the stairs after her. Meanwhile, Brooke turned to Michelle. "Do you really like Alex? Because you did kiss him during your battle with him.", Brooke asked with a genuine tone. "Nah, it's just part of my nature to make fun. I mean, he's cute, I'll admit, but he's not really my type.", the blonde lancer said as she leant on the handrail of the upper balcony, watching everyone in the main area. "The type of guy I'd prefer is usually tall, handsome, healthy, with a big heart.", she said, looking at one person down there in particular. A certain silver-haired Wolf in a brawl with another woman. "Maybe.", she said to herself, as if answering a mental question, watching Hayden for a few moments. "Oy, oy, don't piss off Brianna any more than you already have." Ren said in response, catching where her gaze went. "To her, you already tried to steal her crush and now you're going to try going after her dad? Also, the woman he ends up with is someone else..." He didn't really like where this was going partially due to the fact that there were still the complications of time involved. Despite what he thought about time travel, he really didn't want the kids to start disappearing or anything. Michelle chuckled. "It's not like I wanna marry the guy. I'm barely even twenty, right now I just want fun out of a relationship.", she said with a shrug. "Nothing wrong with a girl wanted to play with a doggy.", she said, giggling at the way she spoke. Elsewhere, Alex joined Brianna outside the guild. "Hey...what was that about?", he asked the girl, as he leant his back against the wall beside where she was sat on a bench. She did not respond. "Bree, come on, talk to me.", he pleaded gently with the girl. He sighed, and moved to sit down on the bench beside her. "Are you really jealous of the attention I'm getting from girls like Michelle?", he asked as he looked down at her. Brianna sighed. "It's not that I'm jealous of it, it's that you don't even try to stop it, you just let it happen.", she said, finally talking to the guy, looking up at Alex, who had an expression of guilt. A moment of silence occurred between the two. Inside the guild, Brooke and Akabane were trying to eavesdrop on the two. Hayden and Artemis finally stopped brawling; Michelle one-shotted her she-wolf friend, and was now conversing with Hayden, twirling her hair gently in her fingers. Sif and Eugene were still talking. But something happened...the ground was shaking for a span of around half a minute, and the front wall linked to the door suddenly cracked and the windows shattered. Ren wondered if Michelle decided to throw caution to the wind since she should have known about the time travel thing. "I really hope this doesn't go badly..." Later on, everyone was still talking but then something was going on. "Now what's going on?" Eugene said as tried to asses the situation. He grabbed his swords and kept them at the ready. The shaking stopped...but Brianna burst through the door, one of her arms heavily burnt. "Guys, it's Alex! He went berserk and suddenly took off!", she said, trying not to touch her scorched arm, wincing. "His eyes went all dark and he just attacked me and flew away!", she said, with a notably panicked tone of voice, unusual compared to her usual attitude about things. "Give Brianna some medical attention." Eugene said in a serious tone before quickly thinking of how to do things. "Aria, Kai, Josh, start the web. We need you guys to be our eyes for the most part. Aria will step in as needed." "Yes sir!" They exclaimed before practically vanishing into thin air. He then opened a communication channel with Shana. "You heard what's going on right? You in position?" "Yeah, I'm here." The sniper said in response. "Okay, now then, we'll be focusing on guerrilla tactics to wear him down. We're still dealing with the after math of that last battle with Leona so confrontations will be no longer than two minutes before retreating and switching with another group. I've already got Ling, Hayate and Ryuunosuke out there as well." Eugene said to everyone. "Wolf, you and me are going supplement our surveillance with our enhanced senses. Ren, I'll leave the rest to you. Move out!" He and the future kids exempting Brianna who was hurt and Violet who wasn't all that good in combat had rushed out to accomplish the plan, motioning the others to follow suit. "Here, you're going to need this." Ren said to Michelle before she left as he gave her her own communication device. "I'll be keeping in touch with you to keep you informed on Alex's position." He then pulled up several screens in the air. "Hayate's already gone past the 2 minutes! Stupid boxer and his boxing pride... Ah well, I got more data anyway." Where Alex was, three minutes had passed since Hayate had engaged him. It was now he had decided to retreat and switch with Ling who had a spell ready. "Choice! Stop your rampage now or Sleep!" The moment it affected Alex, it made it difficult for him to move due to the effects of the magic Ling used. Until he had decided on a choice, a headache would keep getting worse for him and cause him to find it hard to move. "Ren, enemy has lost battle strength." After another minute, Ryuunosuke had switched with him and activated limit magic, making Alex use up his physical strength way too quickly and straining his muscles. With Ryuunosuke moving around so much, it caused Alex to do the same. Pretty soon, it would feel as if he was chained down. It was around this time the next group switched in. After Alex had felt his muscles starting to be forcefully strained, he switched tactics himself. He uses his Telekinesis to enable flight for himself, and launched a few dozen metres into the air. He rose his arms, and the ground beneath Ryuunosuke to basically toss him away and lose focus on the debuff he put upon Alex. Next, Alex proceeded aim himself to face the ground. "Scorching Gale Devil's Eviscerating Wings!", Alex yelled, but his voice had a demonic filter to it. Swinging his arms down, he unleashed a flurry of dark purple flames mixed with powerful wind upon both Ryuunosuke. "It's as the herbivore said, he's merely going on instinct. This'll make it much easier to deal with." Ryuunosuke said after having made a simple wall and reinforcing it, making it be able to withstand the attack easily. As Alex tried to go higher, there was a powerful barrier blocking his path, draining magic power from him and shocking him at the same time. "I'll leave it to you then herbivore." Ryuunosuke said as he saw Eugene and Sif coming in. "Young man, you have a lot of explaining to do." Eugene said in a somewhat joking tone to keep himself loose. "Let's do this Sif." He said before activating the Black Dragon which had gotten another upgrade by Ren. Alex watched as his aunt and uncle were getting closer to him, his red irises gleaming brightly. He swiped his hands horizontally, both of which had whimsicial, wispy streamers of Alex's orangey-red Magic Aura stringing from them. "Cog Bullet Wave!", he casted in his demonic voice, generating a massive array of projectiles constructed of raw psionic energy and Magic Power, down towards the two sword-wielders as an attempt to keep them away. "That won't work on me!" Eugene exclaimed before using his sword to absorb the whole magic attack. This was why he was part of the first pair. He had an anti mage build. "Sif, your turn!" He exclaimed to his partner after he had made an opening for her. Sif immediately flew up into the air towards Alex, with her hands glowing with a golden light. A beam of energy launched from her hands at Alex, only for it to be blocked by a Telekinetic barrier around him. She proceeded to fly up directly at him this time, as her body was engulfed in light. She Requipped both her rapier and a light armour upon her as she travelled; the sword began to shimmer. Electrical currents began flowing around the blade of the weapon. "Thundering Blade!", casted the woman as she launched at Alex, swinging her lightning-engulfed sword...however... Eugene was suddenly in place of Alex! Meanwhile, Alex was where Eugene was standing on the ground, clearly work of the young man's Territory. This switch caused Sif's attack to hit Eugene, and thus induce a bolt of lightning from above. Taking the opportunity, Alex angled his arms, and the ground beneath him began to glow. "Niel Wielg Mion...", he began to chant. "Wait...I know that spell! We need too--", Sif went to say but it was too late. "Derse Elcantaeus! YAGDO RIGORA!!", Alex casted with a yell, causing a massive, explosive pillar of godly light to engulf Sif, Eugene, and anyone else who was still in the area. When the spell ended, Alex had took the chance and escaped from the area without a trace. "Hahaha, thanks for that Ren." Eugene said with a nervous smile as he opened up his helmet to let himself breathe. At the last second, Ren had teleported them back to their starting point. "Um, Sif, could you get off first?" He said with a nervous expression on his face as they were in an awkward position on the floor. "I'll leave you two love birds alone for now." Ren said with a chuckle. "Luckily, I got some more data because of that though." "Oh grow up, it's basically common knowledge that sitting like this will be the least intimate thing between us in the future.", Sif said, basically chastising the Dragon Slayer as she got to her feet, and helped Eugene up. "So what do we do? Even if we managed to get around Alex's tricks like that, he still has incredible power at his disposal...", Sif both said and asked, in conversation with Eugene and Ren. "Fair enough I guess..." Eugene said in response although from his tone, one would know that he didn't the full extent of this. Although they were supposed to have gotten their future memories, it wasn't like they got every single detail. She then asked as to how to deal with Alex. "Well, Ling and Ryuunosuke's actions have limited his physical and mental capabilities. He won't stand much of a chance if we can get it to a close range fight." Ren said in response. "As for how to deal with him switching people around, we'll probably need Aria's help in that regard. We could also try negating his magic." "Are you forgetting that he is the firstborn of the two most powerful Wizards that Earth Land ever saw?! He's the son of the first person to ever wield Magic and the woman who could obliterate half a country with one thought.", said a young voice from nearby. It was Brianna, who now had bandages wrapped around her arm. "You may not have gotten that memory, but even the Wizard Saints under Ezra's command in that hellish future were wary about facing him.", she continued. "There was something that his mother left us in a note, but told us not to let him know. That something was that Alex is essentially the Nexus of Magic in it's early stages of development. According to a Seer, the woman said that he will grow into the embodiment of power: an unbreakable mind with the true strength to go with it.", Brooke said, joining the conversation with the group. "In other words...", said another voice, Josh. "He won't be slowed down by something as mild as that...we need something bigger..a lot bigger.", he said with a voice of worry, as he looked towards the direction of the medical bay, where a certain Wizard was resting up... Elsewhere, a lone Alex was floating in the sky with gleaming red eyes, staring down upon a frightening sight. What was once a massive patch of mountains was now a pile of dust flowing away slowly in the breeze... "Honestly, that right there is why you won't be able to do anything against him." Ren said in response with a sigh. His face however was serious which was rather rare for him. "Listen here, thoughts like that, thinking that he's way too powerful for whatever stupid reason, I want you to get them out of your head. Are we clear? Thoughts like that mean you've unconsciously given up from the get go. It also means...you're unconsciously pushing him away and isolating him. Out of the future kids, I think only Akabane and Aria don't think that way and at the moment, they're our best bet." He then gave a grin. "It isn't like you to give up so easily Brianna, Josh." He said with a warm smile. Due to Hayden's situation in the future, Ren treated Brianna and Josh as if they were his own family and in turn the half werewolf siblings thought of Ren as either a second father or an uncle. So it felt nostalgic for Ren to talk to them like this and pat them on the head. "And don't underestimate us adults! We've got a plan ready. We just need to hold off Alex long enough to complete it. Do you think you're strong enough to get up and fight again?" "Yeah...I'm fine to cast spells, just not actually get in close quarters just yet.", Brianna said with a false smile, as she seemed to enter a momentary trance-like state... Fire engulfed the land, igniting forests like birthday candles. Bodies were strewn for miles, drenched in blood and other bodies. In the middle of a field of blackened grass lay a small number of people. A chestnut-haired boy was holding another teenager of similar age in his arms, a girl with calm blue hair. The boy was shedding tears, as were the other kids around them. A girl with white hair and canine ears was tightly holding the blue-haired girl's weakening hand. Soldiers were emerging from the burning forests, but they were in no way alive. They looked as if they were made of stone, but splattered with blood. They marched heavily towards the group in the middle of the field, most of whom were injured. The blue-haired girl gave one more smile to the chestnut-haired and white-haired teenagers by her sides, before she went limp with one last breath. The white-haired girl broke down, burying her face in the freshly-deceased girl's shoulder. The chestnut-haired boy stood, still with tears forming little rivers down his face, and turned to face the soldiers. He walked with an almost zombie-like pattern of movement towards them. The soldiers charged towards the approaching teenager, roaring with weapons held out and high. The boy looked through his long, sweat-drenched bangs with eyes shimmering red. The boy gave out a roar that was as mighty as a lion's own. However, with the roar, an insane output of unseen force was put out, tearing up the land in front of the boy and in his immediate vicinity. The soldiers were all risen high into the air, as the boy continued screaming in both anguish and rage. After a moment of being hung in the air, the soldiers were all suddenly reduced to nothing but scattered dust; molecules blown apart by the mind of an ashamed noble, as some of the teenagers behind him watched in shock and awe, with a hint of fear... Brianna shook her head side-to-side, snapping out of it, and looked towards Ren after his mention of a plan. "Okay, lay it on us, Geek-Mage.", said Hayden as he approached closer to the group, joining the conversation. "It's rather simple really, all we have to do is to set up some rules and enforce them." Ren said with a sly grin as he showed Alex's current location on a screen. I've already gotten the plan in motion over there. All you guys need to do is keep him stalled until it's all ready. You gotta keep him within the area." He then opened a Dokodemo Door to the said location. "Let the game begin!" Hayden, Sif, Eugene, Brianna, Josh, Aria and Brooke all went through the portal. Upon arrival, they looked around for any sign of Alex, but there were none. Hayden's canine ears twitched, and he instinctively backflipped. Alex flew right under him, barely missing! As a result, Alex ended up launching Brooke flying into Eugene's back. Hayden attempted to grab Alex, but the young man had flew upwards just before. "Eclipse Spirit's Bluster!", Hayden howled, releasing a circling blast of black light surrounded by rings of bright white light up towards Alex, only for the attack to be matched by Alex's Scorching Gale Devil's Rage. "Sort out tactics, quickly.", Hayden pseudo-ordered as he leaped upwards to distract Alex while everyone else decided on their next move. A bit further away, a petite young woman was writing something in the air. "So troublesome, Ren asking us to do this..." She said with a sigh. She then saw the battle situation. "Daisuke, go help them." "But what about you?" Daisuke asked with a bit of worry in his voice. "You should know better by now that it would take more than that. Just go." The girl said, almost with a bored expression. "Understood." Daisuke said before activating a certain magic, linking the two of them before going towards the battle. Back at the actual battle, Eugene had taken the reins and used enclosing tactics to keep Alex at bay. Aria had been told to stay with Michelle and Akabane and Kai would help control the situation with his magic. "Careful not to hit each other!" Eugene exclaimed as he began to synchronize everyone once again. This concentration was momentarily broken when Alex unleashed a powerful Devil Slayer spell at him. "Urahhhhh!!" A battle cry could be heard before an impact. When the smoke cleared, there was a man standing in the way, having taken the attack fully. However, there didn't seem to be a scratch on him. "Daisuke!?! What are you doing here?" Eugene asked in confusion. He had met the man a long time ago before all this time travel stuff happened. "Ren asked us to help out and then Vivian told me to deal with the battle directly." Daisuke responded. He then requipped into a type of armor, one that would bring all magic attacks to him. "And you already know about my magic. I'm invincible!" "Good to hear..." Eugene said before synching with everyone, bringing them into the zone. Alex glared down upon Daisuke with his blood-red eyes. He tilted his head back with an open mouth. But instead of attacking, he started to cackle, with that dark, demonic filter-like effect still infecting his voice. "Invincible? What a farce! Invincible only means your physical body is immune to damage... BUT YOUR MIND IS NOT!!!", Alex shrieked, as a red aura surrounded his body, and he unleashed wave after wave of psychic torment upon Daisuke's mind, and by collateral, Eugene's as well. Telepathy! "What a cheeky brat." Vivian said although looking like one herself. While still writing with one hand, she took out a book with another. "Mamorumyou!" She casted a spell which hit Daisuke from above, rendering Alex's mental attack useless. It was a spell to protect him from mental attacks. After a bit, it hit the others too to help them. "As expected of the loli." Eugene said to himself as he got rid of that headache. "Anchor Howl!" Daisuke shouted as a strong aura came from him, forcing Alex to pay attention to him. "Come at me!" He said as he hit his shield with his sword. Alex snarled viciously as a red aura began pulsing out from him. Pure Magic Power. It was overwhelmingly demonic. The tips of his fingers elongated into claws, his skin went paler, and his teeth elongated like fangs. The ground around everyone suddenly shattered, and massive chunks flew into the air; all of them promptly bombarding down towards Daisuke. "Bring it on!" Daisuke shouted as Alex charged at him. At the same time, Eugene motioned for everyone to back away and at most provide supporting fire. He then switched shields to one that would cause damage to Alex the same that would have been dealt to Daisuke. "Don't worry about hitting Daisuke with the supporting fire, he'll be able to take it!" Eugene said to the group. "We just need to hold him back long enough for the spell to be ready!" Alex lifted one finger, and the massive chunks of earth all rose into the air, engulfed in a reddish aura, similar to that of Alex's inner Magical Power. Aiming the finger down, the floating chunks of earth were all launched at Daisuke akin to a meteor shower, all through the power of Alex's Telekinesis. "Halt!" Daisuke shouted anchoring his feet to the ground so that he wouldn't be knocked away by all of the meteors. While he was invulnerable in his current state, the laws of physics still applied to him. With all of these meteors headed for him, Daisuke raised his shield. Any of the meteors that hit it would make Alex take just as much damage as he would have taken if he weren't invulnerable. Alex yelled when he felt the redirected pain. The demonic voice within Alex spoke, "I have had enough of you and that glorified dinner plate!!", with a shriek of irritation. Everyone felt a tremor move through their bones as the aura around Alex began pulsating violently. His now-black skinned arms were raised above his head and locked in peculiar positions, as streamers of purple light began to spiral around his body. From their safe location, the group observed the battle. A high-pitch gasp! Brianna stares at Alex in horror. "That Magic...he wouldn't!", she said loudly in disbelief. She was right to be terrified. A colossal Magic Circle had formed beneath Alex, with it's design being rather foreign compared to basic Magic. "Tch, we've got a big one coming up." Eugene said as he glanced towards a certain direction. There was a small flash of light, indicating that it was ready. He gave the signal to get it started and with that, walls of runes surrounded both Alex and Daisuke, blocking them off from everyone else. This was Jutsu Shiki. It read 'Any person named Alexander Akiyama is not allowed to use magic or his telekinesis powers or he will lose oxygen. The Justu Shiki will not disappear until one person is left conscious.' "Come on then, fight me like a man!" Daisuke exclaimed to Alex as he used magic to keep his attention. Alex dropped to the ground due to the Jutsu Shiki, landing in a crouch; sticking it. He looked up at Daisuke, as half of his face was submerged in the dark flesh of a Devil Slayer. His eyes shimmered like beacons, and he tilted his head back with a triumphant laugh. After, Alex opened his mouth to speak...but the sound that came out was far from Alex's. "Thank you for nullifying the brat's Magical abilities, for that has freed me to do as I please.", said a psychotic, distorted voice. "You see, the boy has an incredible well of power within him, even I admit it's impressive. Enough power to keep me sealed away for almost two decades. I applaud his effort...but his body is mine now!", the voice continued. Soon after, Alex's entire body had turned a mixture of maroon and black, the wings on his back had grown almost five times the size, and his tail had streamlined, now having a bladed tip for a tail. "You wish for a fist fight, Knight-Mage? Then a fist-fight you shall ''RECEIVE!!", the demonic beast bellowed as he flew through the air at a blinding speed, claws out, intending to slash through Daisuke's arm. "Thank goodness then we took into account any random occurrences." Eugene said with a smile as he walked closer to the Jutsu Shiki since he wouldn't be caught in any attacks. "Besides the part about Alex not being able to use magic, the second part was that this thing would only dispel when one of the combatants is rendered unconscious." "With my magic along with help from my partner, you can't take me down at all." Daisuke said as he let the attack hit him and it didn't do anything. "I could do this all week and then some. Plenty of time for the person we need to get here." "Someone get Ezra now!" Eugene exclaimed to the rest of the group. Demonified Alex leapt back from Daisuke; hissing viciously. He turned and looked at the barrier in silence for a stray second, before moving over and placing his black-as-space hand on one of the walls. "Funny thing about Demon-Gods, Knight. We don't require sustenance!", he yelled as his entire body shimmered the way it did before, prior to the trap being set off. The Magic Circle grew once again, and the line patterns began to glow! "Bring it on! Nothing can damage me anyway!" Daisuke shouted as Vivian ran over to edit the Jutsu Shiki to make it so being knocked unconscious would result from using magic. However, this would take some time that Daisuke would have to buy. Not that he would have much trouble from that anyway. The demonified boy just laughed darkly. "'Who said I was aiming the spell for you alone...?~'", he said with a sickening taint of sadistic joy in his voice. In an instant, the circle had expanded far and fast enough to entrap everyone who was nearby, reaching almost a mile in radius. Alex began chanting in an oddly familiar language...one that seemed to physically strike fear into Brooke, Violet, Josh and even Brianna and Akabane. He finished the chant. "Xirran Halor Goran!!", he shouted as the spell casted. Before anyone could even do anything, the Magic Circle beneath them shone eye-achingly bright and unleashed a rising pillar-like blast of Magical Energy that tore the land asunder and shook the earth for miles. AlexMagic2(MSE).jpg|Note: The central tower structure is at least 50-60+ stories tall AlexMagic3(MSE).jpg|Xirran Halor Goran Back at the Sabertooth guild, everyone had entered a mild panic at the shuddering of the earth beneath them, however Ezra's eyes simply flickered open in response... "Science is the way to the future!" Ren said with a small grin, having used the Dokodemo Door to bring everyone back rather quickly. Well, he used a variation of it based on what he's seen from the future kids, practically teleporting them out of there rather than have a door appear. "What an annoying brat he's become." Vivian said, being seen for the first time. She herself looked a kid somewhat. "You're one to talk." Daisuke couldn't help but joke despite the time. "Ezra, wake up and get the lead out already." Eugene said to the still unconscious Ezra. Ezra, who had opened his eyes moments before the groups' retreat, sat up in his bed. The blanket slid down, revealing his bare chest that was covered in numerous healing, but still vaguely visible scars from the battle with Leona. "That power. I can sense it is Alex's but...there is extreme darkness tainting it.", Ezra said as he looked towards the group, specifically Sif, Hayden and Eugene. The kids were all shivering in what seemed to be fear. "You forgot to remove that Enchantment you put on him.", Hayden said a little gruffly. Only to be met with a look of concern from Ezra. "...The Enchantment dissipated after the battle with that monster. Alex shouldn't have the power boost I gave him anymore...!", Ezra said, with actual, but very vague, tones of worry within his voice. "No way...", Sif said, in apparent disbelief, "That's Alex's ''own power?!", she finished with as she looked between Eugene and Hayden for a response of some sort. "For some reason, I'm not surprised considering his lineage. It's almost boring." Eugene said in a rather bored tone of voice. "Well, we have to deal with him somehow right? Maybe we could use the VS 100 pocket dimension we use for training. That'll at least hold him off if not beating him." He seemed very calm about all this despite the situation. "What about you guys? Any ideas?" While Ezra was preparing, including Requipping into fresh clothes, Sif and Hayden looked between each other for a moment. "...I know one way.", said the silver-haired Werewolf. "But...it's no guarantee Alex'll come out unscathed.", he said, obviously annoyed that he had to bring up such a thought for the current crisis... ''- - - CHAPTER END - - -'' Category:Chapter Category:Main Storyline